The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead delivers its school admissions service through Achieving for Children, a community interest company set up in partnership with the Royal Borough of Kingston and the London Borough of Richmond.
The Schools Admissions and Child Employment Team operates a call back service only. Priority will be given to calls where the information is not available on the website or in the Admissions Guides. Please be advised that the phone number included below and in our guides is for the RBWM Contact Centre, not the Schools Admissions Team themselves. The Contact Centre answers a range of queries, but for more complex queries, please email the team on rbwm.admissions@achievingforchildren.org.uk
Please view all guides and policies in relation to the admissions process.
September 2024 Entry
This covers those children born between September and August annually. Secondary School Admissions are for those pupils starting at Middle, Secondary or Upper schools. This is known as Secondary Phase Entry in admissions terminology.
What is the difference between the different schools for Secondary education?
You will see a range of school types when looking at secondary school education for your child. Each type of school covers a different age range:
Secondary schools - Catering for pupils from Year 7 to Year 13, or ages 11+. These schools are found all over RBWM. After Year 11, some pupils may move to a college, UTC, Studio school, or another 6th Form provision.
Middle schools - Catering for pupils from Year 5 to Year 8, or ages 9-13. These schools are found in Windsor. After Year 8, pupils tend to move from middle schools to upper schools.
Upper schools - Catering for pupils from Year 9 to Year 13, or ages 13+. These schools are found in Windsor. After Year 11, some pupils may move to a college, UTC, Studio school, or another 6th Form provision.
UTCs and Studio schools - Catering for pupils from Year 10 to Year 13. These schools are found outside RBWM, but within commutable distance. These schools are training centres for specific areas such as Engineering, Business, Arts Management, or Tourism, Aviation, Construction, E-Sports or Digital Media, to name but a few. They offer the same qualifications as secondary schools, with the added bonus of industry expertise and work-experience links.
If you attempt to put a school on your phase entry application that does not receive pupils in that year group, your preference is invalid and will be discarded. For example, if you are applying for middle schools, but place a primary school on the application as well, this primary preference will be discarded. This is because primary schools do not accept phase transfer applications for Year 5 entry - you would need to make an In-Year Transfer request instead.
Similarly, if you wish to apply for a middle school in Year 7 alongside secondary schools, the middle school application will be a separate form, submitted through the individual middle schools directly - you cannot apply on the same form as you would for a secondary school, as they are different phases of entry. Your Year 7 application for secondary schools would be handled by us, whereas the In-Year transfer application would be handled by the individual school.
Applications are open to submissions between September and October each year - please review the key dates below for this year's specifics.
Key Dates
- Opening date - Friday 8 September 2023
- Closing date - Tuesday 31 October 2023
- Extended deadline for exceptional circumstances - Wednesday 15 November 2023
- National Offer Date - Friday 1 March 2024
- Processing of late applications begins - Monday 4 March 2024
- Deadline to respond to a school place offer - Friday 15 March 2024
- Deadline for late applications to be submitted to be considered in the second round - Friday 15 March 2024
- Offers to late applicants and allocations from waiting lists for all applicants - From Thursday 4 April 2024.
Late Applications
The online facility for on time applications is now closed and is not available for late applications but you may still view your submitted application using the link below. Please note that if you applied via the Google Form, not through the portal, you will not be able to view your application in the portal. You can also access the online system on National offer Day (Friday 1 March 2024) to view the outcome of your application.
If you would like to make a late application please use one of the forms below. All late applications submitted will be considered during the second round of allocations and decision letters will be sent in April 2024. If you are not a Royal Borough resident please apply via your own local authority.
Middle School Year 5 Entry CAF September 2024 - Late Application for Royal Borough Residents
Upper School Year 9 Entry CAF September 2024 - Late Application for Royal Borough Residents
Secondary School Year 7 Entry CAF September 2024 - Late Application for Royal Borough Residents
You can only apply for state-funded secondary schools. The state-funded schools in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead are listed in the guide. If you wish to apply for a place at an independent school you will need to contact the school directly to discuss the admissions process.
Full details of the admissions process are published in the online guide and policies. Please take time to read this guide before applying.
Applications for a school place must be made through your home authority - this is the council where you live and to which you pay council tax. Residents can apply for non-Royal Borough schools using this application process. If you do not live within this borough and apply to us for a middle school (year 5 entry), upper school (year 9 entry) or secondary school place (year 7 entry) your application will be disregarded.
Requesting a change of preference
Do not use the Citizens Portal to request any change after Tuesday 31 October 2023. The system will be open for primary applications only. The Admissions team will not be notified of any change to a secondary application and your request will not be processed.
Do not request the change by replying to the email you received confirming that you have submitted your application. This is a no-reply email address and is not monitored by the Admissions team. Any changes sent to this address will not be processed.
The request must be made by filling out the forms below:
Your change of preference(s) will not be reflected on your application on the Citizens Portal. This facility is used to download information provided by the parent only.
The change will be made in the back office application. We will not provide proof that the change has been made.
Any change of preference requests received after Tuesday 31 October 2023 will not be processed until the second round of allocations from Monday 4 March 2023. There will be no exceptions to this deadline.
Parents are encouraged to look at the allocation information published on this webpage to make an informed decision about the school they choose to name as a preference and the likelihood of their child being allocated a place at the school based on the oversubscription criteria.
Further information on how to decide preference order and equal preference processing is provided in our online guides and policies.
Any additional questions, queries or concerns about the application process can be emailed to rbwm.admissions@achievingforchildren.org.uk. Questions relating to the transfer testing process itself should be directed to the local authority where the child intends to sit the test.
Applying to Grammar Schools
All schools in the borough are comprehensive and meet the needs of all ability ranges. This means they do not require entrance exams as a form of entry. Grammar schools are available in neighbouring authorities. If you wish for your child to apply for a grammar school please contact the local authority where your preferred grammar school is located for information on sitting the entrance exams.
Parents must apply for their child's secondary school place before the results are received and no later than the closing date i.e. Tuesday 31 October 2023. You must apply via your home local authority. Both grammar schools and non-selective schools should be included within the six preferences allowed in an application in the event that the child does not meet the required standard for entry into a grammar school.
Allocation information
Details about how places have been allocated over the previous three years have been published below: